Introduction
While the core mission of our organisation is to empower fishermen—bringing them together to find and use their voice in a transparent and inclusive way—we also recognise that the wellbeing of our coastal communities is deeply intertwined with the future of inshore fishing.
That’s why we chose to establish this organisation as a Community Interest Company (CIC). This structure ensures that our work not only supports fishermen but also safeguards the communities they are part of—communities that, like the inshore fleet, are under increasing pressure and in need of protection.
As part of this commitment, we’ve developed a series of community initiatives designed to strengthen the connection between fishermen and their local areas. These projects are practical, people-focused, and rooted in the everyday realities of coastal life. They reflect the values of collaboration, sustainability, and resilience that define our approach. In this chapter, we share some of these initiatives with the hope that they may inspire similar efforts elsewhere.
If you’re interested in rolling out any of these projects in your own region, we’d be happy to support you in developing a bespoke programme tailored to your community’s needs.
Man & Van
One of our most practical and impactful initiatives is the Man & Van service—a transport solution created by the Lyme Bay Fishermen’s CIC to support our members and improve the local seafood supply chain. This service runs three times a week, transporting freshly caught fish and shellfish from our members to the Brixham Trawler Agents (BTA) market.
The benefits are twofold. First, it ensures that our members’ catch reaches market within 72 hours—often even sooner—preserving quality and freshness. Second, and just as importantly, it allows fishermen to return home after long days at sea, rather than spending additional hours driving their catch to market. This means more time with family, more rest, and a better quality of life.
While we continue to work toward making the service financially sustainable, we’re also exploring ways to expand its impact. For example, we’re engaging with local fishmongers and restaurants to encourage the use of locally caught seafood. In many cases, fish caught in a port is sent to market—only to be bought and transported back to the same area. By helping local chefs and restaurants access this catch directly, we can reduce food miles, improve freshness, and keep more value within the community.
Looking ahead, we aim to support local restaurants and fishermen in registering for buyer and seller licenses, and to offer training for chefs in fish processing. This will allow our Man & Van service to deliver directly to local businesses, ensuring top-quality seafood for customers and a stronger, more connected local economy.
Fisheries Outreach – https://lbfcic.com/fisheries-outreach-programme/
The Fisheries Outreach Programme was created by the Lyme Bay fishermen themselves—local custodians of the sea who wanted to give back to their communities in a meaningful and lasting way. Recognising the importance of connecting the next generation with the marine environment, the fishermen envisioned a programme that would share their knowledge, experiences, and passion for sustainable fishing with schoolchildren across Devon and Dorset.
What makes this initiative truly unique is that the fishermen didn’t just inspire the idea—they helped shape the content. Drawing on their lived experience and deep understanding of the sea, they co-developed two engaging educational modules:
Even more powerfully, the fishermen themselves step into the classroom to deliver these sessions. These hands-on, interactive presentations allow students to meet and learn directly from the people who depend on the sea for their livelihoods. With tools like pots, nets, and fish ID cards in hand, the fishermen bring the marine world to life—sparking curiosity, encouraging questions, and perhaps even inspiring future careers in the maritime sector.
At its core, the programme is about more than education—it’s about pride, heritage, and community. It strengthens the bond between coastal communities and the sea, and helps ensure that the values of sustainability, stewardship, and local identity are passed on to the next generation.
Seafood Trail – https://lbfcic.com/where-to-eat/– https://lbfcic.com/where-to-buy/
The Seafood Trail was developed by the Lyme Bay fishermen to celebrate and support the local businesses that champion their catch. Recognising the importance of building strong relationships between fishermen, fishmongers, and restaurants, the fishermen wanted to highlight those who share their values of sustainability, traceability, and community support.
To bring this idea to life, we created a distinctive Seafood Trail window sticker—a self-adhesive A5 poster that businesses can proudly display. This simple but effective visual cue lets customers know that the fish or shellfish being sold or served has been sourced directly from Lyme Bay Fishermen’s CIC members.
To further amplify this initiative, we launched two dedicated pages on our website:
These pages offer free marketing for participating businesses while helping consumers make informed choices that support local, sustainable seafood. It’s a win-win: businesses gain visibility and credibility, and our supporters can easily find places that align with the values of our organisation.
More than just a marketing tool, the Seafood Trail fosters a sense of camaraderie and shared purpose across the community. It strengthens the local seafood economy, builds trust between producers and consumers, and reinforces the message that supporting small-scale, sustainable fishing benefits everyone.
Scavenger Hunt – https://lbfcic.com/scavenger-hunt/
The Scavenger Hunt was designed as a fun and educational way to connect the public with the rich marine life of Lyme Bay while also supporting local businesses. This initiative had two main goals: to raise awareness about the incredible variety of fish and shellfish found in our local waters, and to encourage footfall in shops and businesses across our coastal communities.
We selected 50 species of fish and shellfish commonly found in the area and created a unique A5 self-adhesive sticker for each one. Each sticker features a species number, its name, and a few fun facts or key details—designed to be both informative and engaging for all ages. These stickers were then distributed to participating local businesses, who displayed them in their windows or inside their shops.
To take part, visitors and locals could pick up or download a Scavenger Hunt leaflet, which included a numbered list and space to write down the names of all 50 species as they were discovered. As participants explored the town, they would visit different businesses, learn about marine life, and fill in their leaflets.
As a thank you for completing the hunt, participants received a small gift—a token of appreciation from the Lyme Bay Fishermen’s CIC for taking part and supporting the community. This initiative not only helped educate the public about local marine biodiversity but also brought people into shops they might not have otherwise visited, helping to boost local trade and build stronger community ties.
Fish Poster – https://lbfcic.com/shop/
The Fish Poster was a natural next step following the success of our Scavenger Hunt. We were so inspired by the beautiful species illustrations created for the hunt that we decided to bring them all together into a single, striking poster. Featuring all 50 species of fish and shellfish found in Lyme Bay, the poster is both an educational tool and a celebration of our local marine biodiversity.
The artwork, created by the incredibly talented Debby Mason (www.debbymason.com), captures the detail and character of each species with stunning accuracy. The poster serves as a perfect gift for those who complete the Scavenger Hunt, offering a lasting reminder of their experience and the marine life they learned about.
Beyond that, the poster is also available for purchase, with proceeds going directly to support the work of the Lyme Bay Fishermen’s CIC. It’s a beautiful and meaningful way for supporters to contribute to our mission, while also helping to raise awareness about the importance of sustainable fishing and marine conservation.
Documentary
Our Documentary – The Last Custodians: The Voice of the Fleet – https://youtu.be/a-4LjLD1i_M
The Last Custodians was born out of a deep need to tell the real story of the inshore fleet—those small-scale, day-boat fishermen who are often overlooked in national conversations about fisheries and sustainability. Too often, the public hears that “overfishing” is to blame for the decline in fish stocks, but the reality is far more complex. In many cases, it’s not the act of fishing itself, but the lack of proper, regionally tailored management and meaningful collaboration with the fleets that depend on these waters.
This documentary offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the lives of the inshore fishermen who make up the Lyme Bay Fishermen’s CIC. We were fortunate to have representation from all five traditional fishing methods within our organisation—Diving, Potting, Netting, Trawling, and Hook & Line fishing—each with its own story, challenges, and deep connection to the sea.
Through their voices, The Last Custodians captures the knowledge, heritage, and resilience of a fleet that has long been the backbone of coastal communities. It’s a powerful reminder that these fishermen are not just harvesters of the sea—they are stewards of it. This film is our way of giving them a platform, raising awareness, and calling for a more balanced, inclusive approach to fisheries management—one that values the people as much as the policies.
Science & Data Collection Training
While many of our projects focus on community engagement, we quickly realised that there were critical issues within the fishing industry that also needed urgent attention—particularly around science and data. As many of you will know, the UK government is in the process of rolling out numerous Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) across nearly all commercially important fish and shellfish species. However, a major challenge is that these plans are data deficient, and there is currently no dedicated funding to collect the data needed to inform them.
Even more concerning is that the legal requirement to review these FMPs is set at six years, and much of the data currently being used is already two to three years out of date. Without up-to-date, accurate data, the inshore fleet has no evidence base to challenge or shape the measures being proposed—despite the fact that these measures could have significant impacts on their livelihoods.
The fishermen in our organisation quickly discovered how complex and technical data collection can be. But they also recognised a powerful truth: the inshore fleet is large and widespread. If properly trained and supported, these fishermen could become a vital part of the solution—collecting real-time, high-quality data that fills the gaps and helps government and regulators manage UK waters more effectively and sustainably.
To make this vision a reality, we launched a new project and brought in Dr. Simon Thomas, a fisheries scientist, to lead the way. Through a series of workshops and member meetings, Dr. Thomas trained our fishermen in essential data collection techniques, including how to sex and measure fish, and how to remove and preserve otolith bones for age analysis.
This initiative marks a major step forward in demonstrating that fishermen should be at the forefront of fisheries management—not just consulted after the fact but involved from day one in the development and delivery of policy. With the right training and tools, the inshore fleet can help fill critical data gaps across UK fisheries—at a fraction of the cost of current, often outdated, methods. It’s a clear win-win for sustainable fisheries management and for the future of the fleet.
Conclusion
In the early years of building grassroots, fishermen-led and fishermen-governed Community Interest Company, we knew that our strength would lie not only in advocating for the future of our fleet, but also in the way we connected with and supported the communities we are part of. That’s why we placed such a strong emphasis on developing community initiatives and promoting the ethos and core values that define who we are.
These projects—whether it was delivering fresh catch through our Man & Van service, educating children through our outreach programme, celebrating local seafood with the Seafood Trail, or empowering fishermen to collect scientific data—were all designed with a shared purpose: to build trust, raise awareness, and strengthen the bond between fishermen and the communities that rely on them.
By focusing on these initiatives early on, we laid a foundation of transparency, collaboration, and pride. We showed that fishermen are not just harvesters of the sea, but stewards of it—leaders in sustainability, education, and local resilience. At the same time, we remained committed to progressing our core mission within the fishing sector: to ensure that the inshore fleet has a voice, a seat at the table, and the tools to shape the policies that affect their future.
Staying the course hasn’t always been easy, but it has always been worth it. These community-focused efforts have helped us build credibility, foster unity, and demonstrate what’s possible when fishermen lead the way.
As we look ahead, we remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting the future of our fleet—by continuing to innovate, collaborate, and advocate for a better, more sustainable future for all.
For all supporting documents please use the links below:
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